SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- After 4 1/2 years, the Bernie Fine case may be over.

A federal judge Friday dismissed a libel lawsuit filed by the former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach's wife, Laurie Fine, against ESPN over the television network's reporting of claims that Bernie Fine molested two ball boys and that she had sex with one of them.

Unless Laurie Fine appeals, the decision appears to be the end of the Bernie Fine case. No other court actions or investigations appear to be pending.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David Peebles, in a 43-page decision, said he found "no evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could conclude that the defendants had serious reservations or doubts concerning the accuracy of their reporting, or reasonably should have."

Neither Laurie Fine nor her lawyer, Lawrence Fisher, could be reached to say whether she plans to appeal.

Publicity about the case began in November 2011, when ESPN broke the news that two former SU ball boys, Bobby Davis and Mike Lang, were accusing Bernie Fine of molesting them when they were children.

Peebles agreed with ESPN's lawyers that Laurie Fine was a public figure under the law. That means she would have to prove that ESPN acted with actual malice -- that it was aware of the falsity of its stories and acted with reckless disregard of the truth, Peebles wrote.

Peebles said he was unable to determine, based on conflicting evidence before him, the truth of ESPN's reports about Laurie Fine having sex with Davis or that she knew her husband was molesting boys.

"I find that reasonable factfinders could disagree as to the truthfulness of defendants' stories," the judge wrote.

But he cited a secretly recorded phone call Davis made to Laurie Fine in 2002 as evidence corroborating Davis's claim that she'd had sex with him.

"There is an abundance of evidence in the record strongly suggesting (Laurie Fine) engaged in sexual conduct with Davis," Peebles wrote.

Laurie Fine accused ESPN of reporting a story they knew was false. Her lawyer cited evidence that the network's own executive questioned the decision to publish afterward.

The judge found Laurie Fine was a public figure based on her frequent appearances on local television and radio shows before the allegations of her husband's child-molesting became public. If the judge hadn't made that determination, Laurie Fine's lawyer would only have had to show that ESPN acted with gross irresponsibility, not actual malice.

Syracuse police, the Secret Service and state and federal prosecutors investigated Davis's and Lang's allegations against Bernie Fine. He was not charged and has denied the accusations.

SU fired Bernie Fine in 2011, the day ESPN published the recorded call between his wife and Davis.

Davis and Lang sued SU and coach Jim Boeheim for slander, after he called them liars who were out to get money. The case was settled last year.